“We fly high, no lie, you know this.” Sure, these may be lyrics from popular rapper Jim Jones, but these words also ring throughout the Bible. Jesus ascended into heaven on a cloud, was “exalted to the highest place,” and was transfigured on the top of a mountain. He also told his followers, and even the thief who hung on the cross next to him at Calvary, that he would “join him in paradise.” It’s easy to think these stories are contained within the pages of the Bible (you don’t hear about people challenging lions at the zoo and coming out alive like Daniel did in the lion’s den back in the day), so when stories like Nik Wallenda‘s, the tightrope-walking-daredevil who crossed Niagara Falls last year emerge, I’m riveted. To me, they’re evidence of modern-day miracles.
This Tuesday, Wallenda conquered another tightrope above a highway in Sarasota, Florida – this time, without a safety harness or water below to soften the blow if he fell. Referencing Tuesday’s stunt, Wallenda claimed:
“It was windy, very windy . . . I’m risking my life. Now it’s just a lot of practice and prayer, that’s about it.”
Really? Practice and prayer? That’s IT? Well, that, hard work and training:
“It took a lot of praying, that’s for sure. But, you know, it’s all about the concentration, the focus, and the training.”
According to a NBC news report, Wallenda has set six Guinness World records for various acrobatic stunts, including the record for highest bicycle ride on a high wire 260 feet above the ground, and he plans to eventually tight rope across the Grand Canyon. He prays before each and every stunt with his wife and children, and wears a cross necklace during each feat. He credits his born-again, evangelical faith with a sense of “peace” and “comfort” he experiences in life, and this encourages me to also believe I can accomplish anything, anytime, in Christ.
What do you think – is Wallenda’s stunt evidence of a modern-day miracle? If not, what is? And what keeps us from JUST DO[ING] IT (shameless plug for my first Daily Miracle blog post ever)?
“With God, all things are possible.” –Jesus